Religious Themes in Film

Lesson 8: The Omen and The Prophecy: It’s the end of the world as we know it.

Actually, the title of the lesson is a little misleading. This lesson will look at The Omen and The Prophecy and tie in some discussions we have had about father/son relationships and angelology. We'll finish up with some final thoughts about class themes.

“Never Trust a *%$#@! Angel.” The Prophecy

Although traditionally, Lucifer and his Angels declare war on God after the creation of Adam, The Prophecy introduces a second war – led by Gabriel – against God for this same reason. Thus, hell is already set up with Lucifer in charge when God creates man. At this point, Gabriel gets jealous for the same reasons that, traditionally, Satan got jealous.

Although the plot in the film differs somewhat from traditional stories, the jealousy that the character Gabriel feels reflects the same motivations as the traditional Satan:

“I will not allow any talking monkey take my place. I’ll burn down heaven to stop it. Help us make it like it was before the monkeys. You remember? We cast out Lucifer’s army. You and I. We threw down their rebel thrones from the wall… I don’t want to be Gods, Simon, I just want to make it like it was. Before the lie, He loved us best.”

This film does well in de-emphasizing the contemporary warm and fuzzy guardian angels and pointing out the rather scary parts of angels’ roles. Thus, the character Thomas Dagget, the ex-priest, says:

“Did you ever read the Bible, Catherine? Did you ever notice how in the bible whenever God needed to punish someone, or make an example, or whenever God needed a killing, he sent an angel? Did you ever wonder what a creature like that must be like? Your whole existence spent praising your God, but always with one wing dipped in blood. Would you ever really want to see an angel?”

And Gabriel, played viciously by Christopher Walken, hammers the point home: “I’m an angel. I kill first borns while their mommas watch. I turn cities into salt. I even – when I feel like it – rip the souls from little girls and now until kingdom come the only thing you can count on, in your existence, is never ever understanding why.”

The slightly amoral character of the angels is explained by one of the “good” angels, Simon: “I’m not sure who’s right, who’s wrong, but it doesn’t matter,” he tells Gabriel. In other words, the angels make no real moral decisions. They leave the moral decision – what is wrong or right – to God.

“Sometimes you just have to do what you’re told,” Simon continues. “That’s who we are.”

Simon implies that angels were created to obey God: they were “built” to do as they are told. If that is true, then why do angels like Satan fall? If they are designed to obey, how is it that some don’t?

This is the question that Milton and others have asked with regard to the character of Satan. Wouldn’t God have had to create Satan with a dose of pride in order for Satan to fall to its temptation? Did God know what Satan’s destiny would ultimately be? Did He plan it that way?

Are some people “designed” to be good or bad in order to fulfill some mission? Think of the character of Gollum. He serves as an instrument that will be a vital element in the saving of Middle Earth. But was Gollum designed to fall prey to the ring?

And so, we return to our discussion of grace and the question of whether people (ourselves included) become heroes by themselves or whether they need grace/special powers/special swords and weapons from the god(s) to do it.

Postscript: If you haven't quite had enough of angels, angels who fall in love with human beings, angels who hate human beings, and the Nephilim of Genesis 6, check out The Prophecy II.

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